WWF Championship Wrestling: June 29th, 1985

June 29, 1985

Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon

Tonight, Terry Funk will make his WWF in-ring debut. Also in action tonight are Don Muraco and Ricky Steamboat. Plus, Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham, Junkyard Dog & Tito Santana, and the new team of B. Brian Blair and “Jumping” Jim Brunzell.

Rick Hunter & A.J Petruzzi vs. Tito Santana & Junkyard Dog

JYD starts off the match by overpowering Petruzzi. Tito tags in and works the arm for a bit. Petruzzi gets hit with a double elbow smash then JYD follows that up with some crawling headbutts. Hunter tags and grabs a headlock but JYD counters that with an atomic drop. Tito tags and gets worked over for a second but makes the tag. JYD cleans house then finishes off Petruzzi with a powerslam (3:49).

Thoughts: Not much to say about this match. It is the same as every other that JYD & Tito had together. Also, the team of JYD and Tito is starting to get stale, as they only started due to their mutual hatred of Valentine and have not progressed into any feuds.  

WWF Update with Lord Alfred Hayes. This week’s subject is Bobby Heenan and the $25,000 bounty that he placed on Paul Orndorff.

Aldo Marino vs. Terry Funk

The announcers put over the toughness of Funk. Before the match, in one of the most memorable post-match moments in history, ring attendant Mel Phillips carries away Funk’s ring gear and in the process, puts on Funk’s hat. Well, Funk sees this then yanks Phillips into the ring and beats the shit out of him. Marino tries to make the save but immediately gets tossed to the outside. Funk continues to beat on Phillips until he tosses him outside. Funk beats the piss out of Marino in the corner as two ring attendants carry Phillips into the locker room. Funk tosses Marino then jaws with the fans. Back in the ring, Marino reverses an Irish whip then tosses Funk through the ropes. Funk comes back in and Marino sends him back outside with a dropkick, as the fans are going crazy. Funk comes back in and hits a back suplex then gets the win via submission with the spinning toe hold (3:02). After the match, Funk taunts the fans, who already hate his guts.

Thoughts: One of the greatest TV debuts in wrestling history. At the end of this match, Funk was loathed by the crowd. Hell, they went crazy for the jobber’s offense. You have to check this out.

Vince mentions that we will get more news about the “Manager of the Year” award later on in the show. We never did though.

Gene Okerlund plugs the first ever “King of the Ring” show at Sullivan Stadium (The old Foxboro Stadium) in Foxboro, MA. Hulk Hogan comes out and says that he was hanging with “Sly” and what he went through filming “First Blood.” He promises the same will happen when he defends his belt against Nikolai Volkoff.

Steve Lombardi & Dave Barbie vs. Killer Bees

The Bees are wearing black trunks and vests for this match. Blair grounds Lombardi to start the match. Brunzell tags and hits a monkey flip then a jumping knee smash. Blair tags and gets two off of a clothesline. Blair gets caught in the wrong corner and gets slammed by Barbie. Blair is able to elude an elbow drop then tags Brunzell, who hits a beautiful looking dropkick. The Bees use the double noggin knocker then Brunzell catches Barbie with a sleeper for the win (3:52).

Thoughts: The Bees worked at a fast pace but their opponents really couldn’t keep up with that. Still, its nice to have another solid tag team in the company.

Okerlund is with the King of the Ring trophy and JYD. They talk about the competitors in the tournament.

Rick McGraw vs. Don Muraco w/Mr. Fuji

The fans start a “beach bum” chant aimed at Muraco. Muraco hits a clothesline but McGraw fights back. He hits a backbreaker and a slam before sending him out of the ring with an atomic drop. The fans are into the action tonight. Muraco comes in but misses a dropkick. McGraw tries a Boston Crab but Muraco rolls out. They slug it out until McGraw gets a nearfall with a small package. McGraw then whiffs on a dropkick and Muraco puts him away with the tombstone piledriver (2:42).

Thoughts: The fans really bought into McGraw here. The match while sloppy at points, was wrestled at a brisk pace, making it fun to watch.

Piper’s Pit with a returning Roddy Piper. He says that he went on vacation then welcomes Hillbilly Jim. Piper mocks him with banjo noises then accuses him of faking his leg injury. Jim then tells Piper he has someone he wants him to meet and brings out his Uncle Elmer. Piper mocks him for a few seconds as the segment ends.

The Axe vs. Ricky Steamboat

Steamboat scares off the Axe with his array of chops and poses. He takes him down with a few arm drags before the Axe grabs a headlock. Steamboat escapes and hits a running knee smash before putting him away with a flying body press (3:08).

Thoughts: Good god was this boring. The crowd, which was hot all night long, was just about silent for this match. The martial arts gimmicked they saddled on Steamboat was really bad at the beginning, as his matches consisted of goofy chops and kicks, along with ridiculous posing.

Hillbilly Jim gives us a public service announcement about making sure your animals have plenty of fresh air and water during the hot Summer days.

Terry Gibbs & Rene Goulet vs. Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham w/Capt. Lou Albano

Windham catches Gibbs with an arm drag. Rotundo tags and works a side headlock. Goulet tags and Rotundo grounds him as Vince tells us that Mel Phillips was taken to the hospital. Lots of fast paced action in this match. Rotundo gets double-teamed until Windham breaks it up. Rotundo continues to play face-in-peril as this match is surprisingly fun. Rotundo reverses an Irish whip by Gibbs then makes the tag. Windham hits a dropkick and a slam. He tags Rotundo, who catches Gibbs with an airplane spin, and gets the win. The finish looked bad as Goulet was right next to the pin attempt and sat there until Windham came over to shove him away (4:36)

Thoughts: Fun stuff, despite the terrible looking finish. Gibbs was solid as far as jobbers are concerned. Windham looked really good in particular.

Okerlund interviews a bunch of heels about the King of the Ring. Nothing memorable happened here except for Okerlund reminding the Iron Sheik that the show was in Foxboro, not Boston.

The announcers talk about Terry Funk and how there should be action taken against him for what he did to Mel Phillips.

Next week, Ricky Steamboat will face Don Muraco. Also, the television debut of “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Uncle Elmer. Plus, King Kong Bundy will be in action.

Final Thoughts: I thought this was a really fun show. The debut of Funk was awesome. If you haven’t seen it before, go do it now. The Killer Bees looked solid in their TV debut too. We also saw Uncle Elmer for the first time, even though it was a very brief appearance. The last match of the show was really fun too. Plus, next week, you get the debut of Savage and a match between Muraco and Steamboat.